Michelle Duggar: ’19 Kids and Counting’ Star Has Miscarriage
Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar were hoping for child number 20 but the laws of nature were against them, according to medical experts. After publicly announcing her pregnancy, the 45-year-old had a miscarriage.
At a routine doctor’s appointment, the couple — stars of “19 Kids and Counting” — learned that she had lost the baby in the second trimester. The family is now resting at home and asked for privacy.
Of the nearly 6 million pregnancies each year in the United States, approximately 15 percent end in miscarriage, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But Duggar’s advanced age, rather than the fact that she had 19 children, probably put her at greater risk.
Click to read the entire article:
/http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2011/12/09/michelle-duggar-miscarriage-predictable-in-advanced-age/
I guess that's their sign. Poor woman needs to stop. And has 2nd grandbaby on the way!
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for her but I assume she also knew the risks. I would be completely cynical about it though if not having just witnesses what my friend and her husband went through. Having a baby who died a few hours later.
ReplyDeleteIt's a uterus not a clown car
ReplyDeleteThis woman apparently is sincere in her beliefs. Why else would any woman choose to be pregnant *EVERY year or so* for 25 years while she already has so many existing children to raise healthfully ??
ReplyDeleteBirth control is obviously not part of her belief system. Nature does usually intervene when a woman's body is no longer a viable incubator.
However, HE seems to be the one who is determined to win the *MOST children* award !!
And really, what would be that prize if your wife and/or latest progeny was seriously afflicted...or worse?
Watched the last episode of their latest trip, where they had arrived in yet another place, meeting new people, w/cameras rolling, and the first thing out of his mouth was "These are ALL my children, I am their father!"
Gee, no kidding, Jim Bob...no one knew that !!
Side note....why would they bring that youngest child on such a trip...a child who still needs supplemental oxygen because she still has lung problems??
The finale to that trip was the baby gets sick, too sick to safely fly home and Michelle has to stay in Israel with her for another week while all the rest, including Dad, go home.
Apparently as good as the trip was for ratings for TLC, they weren't willing to spring for another week for Duggers to stay while the baby recovered.
You have to wonder about a lot of this ???
You have to wonder if the Duggers's baby-making is now a ratings-making ??
And ego-making for Dad?
Regardless of what I think of their babymaking and their religion, this is very sad news for a woman and her family and I hope that their faith, which brings them to keep having children, also brings them comfort during this hard time.
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:09,
ReplyDeleteTrue..it is sad. There is sadness for the parents and for the family in a miscarriage!
As someone who has had to bury one of my babies, my heart hurts for the Duggars.
ReplyDeleteIt's very sad when a woman miscarries, so I do feel compassion for their sadness. But maybe it will encourage them to think about the consequences to their family of continuing to have children.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has experienced multiple miscarriages and the grief that accompanies them, my heart goes out to Michelle Duggar and her family. However, I see the irony in the Duggar parents calling their children "blessings", yet passing each off at a young age to an older buddy, who is still a child him- or herself, to raise. This results in the parents not experiencing the full blessing of having children and being parents. I see so many contradictions in having such a large family, as shown by the Duggars, that I hope Michelle does not have more children, and concentrates on raising her existing blessings, and experiences the blessings that flow therefrom (for both parents and children).
ReplyDeleteAmused -
ReplyDeleteYeah, I wondered why one of the older girls didn't stay with Michelle, or Jim Bob, why didn't he stay around?
The older girls do everything in the Duggar home. They were probably needed to get the family home from Israel. This isn't the first time Michelle has been left out of family activities because she is pregnant, nursing, or caring for a sick child alone.
Can you imagine being left alone in a foreign culture and language, with your very sick child? Especially being a Duggar, with little exposure to the world, it must have been terrifying. God's plan was to make Michelle and Josie suffer like this?
Michelle states that she would "give her life" for any fetus she carries. The older kids don't seem to matter as much as a fetus, which is pretty much fundamentalist Baptist cant. It's easy to love a fetus. It can't bitch.
Once again, a religion that puts very little value on females beyond their factory uterus. I don't see Michelle being valued by her husband or family other than for her prodigious talent for making babies.
And those poor Duggar girls, no schooling, maintaining the Duggar child factory, no job training because they stay sequestered in the compound until god sends them a man.
The only glimmer of hope I see with the Duggars is the children who are NOT ever filmed. It seems like some of the kids protested to filming and are never shown on camera. One girl (who plays many instruments and takes lots of lessons) is never seen. The twin boys mostly get filmed in the distance. There is another boy (Josiah?), further buried in the pack, who was filmed a lot for a while. He was cute, articulate, funny. He disappeared as a subject.
If the Duggars have a Hunter in their midst, they aren't using him for TV ratings. I'll give them that.
plot,
ReplyDeleteActually, one older daughter was assigned to stay with Michelle...Jill.
And of course, TLC then opted to follow them around going to the doctor's, to the pharmacy for the meds....walking to these places with the sick child riding in the stroller !!
Wouldn't you have thought it would have been more pro-active to have a car sent to transport them ?? But then the TLC clips wouldn't have been as colorful, would they?
It's all about the ratings and the $$.
There is a blog about them, like ours here about SW...a huge one.
http://duggarswithoutpity.blogspot.com/
"The only glimmer of hope I see with the Duggars is the children who are NOT ever filmed. It seems like some of the kids protested to filming and are never shown on camera. One girl (who plays many instruments and takes lots of lessons) is never seen. The twin boys mostly get filmed in the distance. There is another boy (Josiah?), further buried in the pack, who was filmed a lot for a while. He was cute, articulate, funny. He disappeared as a subject."
You're right, plot.
Reminds me of when Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne had their reality show....their older daughter refused from the beginning to be filmed or to be any part of the show. Most people thought Kelly and Jack were the only children.
Amused,
ReplyDeleteThat's what I get for half watching the show while working. I didn't catch that Jill stayed behind with her mother and thought most of her scenes were filmed before the family left.
I've visited that blog before and was extremely interested in the first hand perspectives of TLC manipulations of the family. A cousin, I think, posted his experience at Josh's wedding where TLC took over the ceremony and scripted whole discussions between Josh and Jim Bob.
People still believe reality TV isn't scripted. Lordy!
I'm tempted to go back for a visit. Seems like most people posting there agreed with my perspective and stated it better.
Michelle is as much a fame whore as Jim-Bob. Both bear equal responsibility for the pregnancies. Both want to hit the magic 20.
ReplyDeleteSadly a miscarriage is a loss for the entire family. Prayers are still needed for the wee one born last year, she uses supplemental oxygen and is thankfully decreasing the supplemental tube feedings and is eating more on her own. I hope the 19 are celebrated and appreciated even more with this latest turn. 19 blessings is a heaping number of blessings for me. Not that my 2 cents means anything but I think I would huddle with the 19 and give thanks for the 19 blessings in that family. But heck, we all have have our own sheet of music to play, mine would of hit a crescendo long ago. :)
ReplyDeleteI checked out duggarswithiut pity. What a snooze fest, the preamble & instructions was a yawn, made be sleepy.... Many of the posts may as well just of said ditto or yada yada.....Maybe the other components of the blog are more interesting to warrant the accolades I read on other sites from time to time. i was not motivated to dig around, it was boring.........Maybe I caught it on a redundant jag. .........Today, I came back here & was happy to see a variety of takes, a sprinkling of humor & levity, along with some concerns.
ReplyDeleteSorry, fingers slipped, explaining my typos. But no fear, I trust you are sharp and can get the gist. It is late and I have been at work. This human has tired fingers....You all are great: witty, sharp, funny and appreciated.
ReplyDelete@what do I know, I lived in Vegas
ReplyDeleteI appreciated your comments.
I admire the family, see nothing sinister in having some children rarely appear. If it is the choice of the child to not be featured, so be it.
The girls do help take care of the younger kids as I helped take care of my sister who was eight years younger. It was a pleasure for me.
That said, much as I was fond of my sister as a child, and much as I enjoy the Duggars, I have no personal interest in babies and no interest in most toddlers to this day. I get along well with a few little ones, but not many. And, guess what, I try to care, but I don't.
I like kids when they are older. I like people in a family who get along and support one another, like the Duggars, not the Browns. When it comes down to it, the Osbournes supported one another. I loathe the idea of the housewives shows and would never watch one based on what I've heard.
I don't think the Duggars impose their beliefs on others. I think if their kids wanted to go to a regular college, they could. I did not see the Israel show but did see the Scotland, Ireland, England shows and was delighted.
Lived in Vegas,
ReplyDeleteI too found the Duggers w/o Pity blog snoozy at first glance, but if you click on the comments for the various topics, you find that the consensus in there is that the Duggers definitely have their "not-so-much" fans.
Like the SW, folks have pretty much decided out that family is in it for the money and now surely for the celeb/fame status....Just like Kody and his traveling circus.
Michelle especially gets disfavor for her seeming indifference to her children once they are weaned and for her obvious passion for the camera spot.
And interestingly, there is speculation there that the Duggers and TLC read that blog too, since once observations are made on the blog about certain glaring details (like the fact that Michele was never seen actually holding any of the very young children, the next episode definitely included clips of her doing so)
Also there is comment that certain events are warranted via pre-contracts by TLC. Like the daughter-in-law deciding at *the very last minute* to have a home water birth. Made for great TV, but was it per contract?
Which is why the whole Robin courting and marriage reeks of contractual pre-agreements. All for the ratings and moola.
Amused, About the Duggar DIL's water birth. She had her last baby in the toilet...on TV...literally.
ReplyDelete"About the Duggar DIL's water birth. She had her last baby in the toilet...on TV...literally. "
ReplyDeleteOMG !!!! On film???!!!
WHO does something like that ??!!!
But realistically, that show has been on for 7 years now. The Dugger family, including the oldest son and now his wife, have gotten quite used to/dependent on TLC paychecks.
But to have yourself filmed on the toilet, giving birth....(shudder) !!!!
I thought modesty was their by-line ??
Josh and Anna Duggar seem very comfortable with the camera up in their lives all the time. The birth of the first born son on the toilet was hilarious. Josh is NOT one of the Duggar kids who shun the spotlight.
ReplyDeleteOn another board I visit, we call Josh "Smuggar" for his self-satisfied opinions and arrogance. Lately, he is looking like a fat cheshire cat, burping on the last mouse he swallowed.
I don't think that Josh could support himself and growing family if not for the TLC paychecks. He and Anna want every intimate moment on film that's permitted. So we get the cameras speeding to the bathroom while their 2nd child is dumped in the toilet.
Toilet water baptized that child before Josh did.
News of the miscarriage is sad, regardless of how many children they have.
ReplyDeleteSomeone posted here that the girls are uneducated. I read that one of the girls is studying to be a midwife. While that may not hold the same clout as being a doctor, I would hardly call a midwife uneducated.
you all forget that before the Duggars were ever on tv they were living debt free and still do. All the kids have money put asidefor college etc and can pretty much choose if they want to go or not. I think Jim Bob for as conservative as he appears has some pretty progressive values. Josh comes off poorly but he seems to be able to sell a ton of cars, having 2 lots etc
ReplyDeleteNot a close *watcher* of Duggers, however from a few days worth of meandering over at the Duggers w/o Pity Blog, it is apparent those bloggers have done their Homewrok re: the Duggers.
ReplyDeleteJust like here at SW, information is dug out.
According to many threads there, the Duggers were not living "well" at all pre-TLC....debt-free, maybe...but doing without so much with 14 children in a small house. Their lifestyle has improved tremendously thanks to the TLC windfall.
Also there are many comments about the lack of support and inspiration for the older kids to pursure "outside" education or careers. The father has gifted the two older ones with business, but does have control still in them. He owns the land.
Comments about that older daughter who, for two years now on the show, has been reported to "eventually" look into being a doula (not midwife, more an assistant at births) But apparently it stays in the "down the road" talk. Actually all those older girls are needed to stay home. They all are literally raising the 10 or more younger ones and keeping the house (food, laundry etc) going. They are the caregivers to the children.
They named the baby Jubilee Shalom. Glad they saved that one 'til now.
ReplyDeleteThat´s sad.
ReplyDeleteI hope they stop now, before something even worse is going to happen.
The existing 19 kids should not loose their mom just because of some weird idea of having a "nice number" of kids.
The Duggars have used birth control. Birth Control caused their first miscarriage so the family decided not to use it anymore. I am the oldest of 5 kids and I did a lot to help my parents out with my younger sisters. That is part of being a "family." I can't say that I blame Jim Bob for not letting a 23 year old have full control over a business until he is 100% sure he won't run it into the ground.
ReplyDeleteFREE JINGER
ReplyDeleteBirth control did NOT cause the Duggars first miscarriage. That is a theory they were fed by (oh-crap-can't-remember-his-name) Preacher Man from Tennessee who espouses that The Pill kills a baby every month. Yes, Michelle did have a very early miscarriage. Blaming it on The Pill is nonsense.
ReplyDeleteHelping your parents with the younger kids is one thing. Running the entire house so your mom can be a baby factory is quite another. Raising Michelle's children is HER job, not her older daughters.
If those older girls leave the house, it will fall apart. After them in birth order, there is a long string of boys in that family and they don't do women's work.
It doesn't take parental insistence for those girls to know they are the lynchpin of the family. Who is going to cook, clean, diaper, feed, pack, unpack, launder, nurse the sick, help the younger kids practice music...if those girls leave. No one. They have to stay.
I also doubt their home schooled education will get them into college at this point. Maybe after a couple years at a Junior College, where they might learn some real study habits. But that's too much a commitment if there are 10 kids at home screaming for some pocket lunches.
That said, I do find the Duggars charming in a way, and smarter than the rest of the TLC families at dealing with the press and exposure.
I would not wish a miscarriage on anyone, and I am so sorry for Michelle.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it is hard to feel sorry for someone who brings on their suffering for money and exploits their children's privacy.
I have no idea why any of the older girls (aka maids/nannies) stay. Some are plenty old to move out.
Beyond the spectacle of selling off a normal world for your kids for an intrusively abnormal one... for cash...be it 2 kids or 22 kids......
ReplyDeleteThere's Jim Bob with Michelle ever velcroed beside him, laughing her pitchy, baby-like laugh, as he says, "We didn't want to end on an odd number."
Really responsible reason to have yet another child, huh!!
They have 19 children !!
They have four kids UNDER FIVE...
They also have eight kids under 14....
and the youngest one, just age 2, is still needing special medical care.
They couldn't possibly pull this off without requiring their four *over 14* girls to be 24/7 child and house maids.
It is really so important to have yet another 150 minutes in the spotlight because you had... drumroll, please.... ** 20** children ???
The oldest Duggar girl turns 22 in January. I can't even imagine still living with my parents, especially as the scullery maid.
ReplyDeleteI thought they were younger. That's just sad for those girls.
I have not been watching the Duggar's - I guess after season 1 it was enough surgary goo for me. I remember at the time thinking they DID have many qualities that were admirable- it is a Christian household.
ReplyDeleteBut you all got me to go back and watch Anna give birth- WHOA, now, why on earth would you want that on TV? Really? On the toliet?
I feel for that poor girl in a way. So young, enthralled with the cameras, but still. There's no privacy, no special moments between her and Josh, and where was her family?
Starting to sell out, I am afraid.
I have a few questions for Duggar Watchers:
Why aren't the older kids going to college? Getting married? Those girls are so cute!
I wonder if any of the money goes to the kids?
Jim Bob (LOL) He appears so calm and rational- but I wonder if he is demanding behind closed doors?
At least they are ONE family. Lord knows Jim Bob would not be at a concert with another wife if his son was in a state wrestling championship!!
Sorry, that one STUCK in my CRAW!
Being on the pill CAN cause a miscarriage. That is essentially what "Plan B" and "The Morning After Pill" are. They are just higher doses of the hormones in birth control to ensure that the fertilized embryo doesn't stick to the lining of the uterus.
ReplyDeleteI think it's ironic that women in general think a woman has a "right" to abort her child, but heaven forbid she should have what someone else deems as "too many" kids. What ever happened to a woman's right to choose? Just don't choose to bring too much life into the world, I guess is what they really mean.
"Why aren't the older kids going to college?"
ReplyDeleteFor the older girls, it's probably because the family so desperately needs them.
Once upon a time, the kids had their stated goals in life listed on the Duggar home page. Josh, for instance, wanted to be a lawyer. Among the boys, professions that required college were popular (girls stated mostly things like midwife and homeschooling teacher.)
The need for sex probably preempted all thoughts of professions for the boys. Since Pa Duggar teaches that sex=marriage=children, the boys lower their ideals to firefighter or car sales so they can snag a girl early, finally have sex and support a child army.
"I wonder if any of the money goes to the kids?"
The great TLC mystery! Like I've said before, TLC circumvents all kinds of traditional laws and union restrictions (like child labor laws) by claiming to be unscripted and not using "real" actors.
"Jim Bob (LOL) He appears so calm and rational- but I wonder if he is demanding behind closed doors?"
Jim Bob is smarter than he appears.
I think Michelle is the stricter parent. She has organized the whole family around her over-functioning uterus, not Jim Bob. Jim Bob hates disorder, he admits it, but he stays on the periphery of the family's daily functioning.
He hardly ever deals with the little kids, though he seems like a good dad to the older ones, honestly. Sue me, I find his interactions with his older daughters to be quite sweet even if they are the family scullery maids.
Not all the reasons the older children stay at home are bad. Like many over-protected kids, they have learned one societal model where they are in general loved and appreciated. It's why those girls don't think of themselves as slaves (though they are) or feel like they can move confidently outside the model.
My general image for the Duggars is represented by the blanket training they practice on their babies. As the little babies start to get mobile, the older girls put them on blankets. If the babies start to move off the blankets, the girls bang the floor with wooden spoons to scare them. The babies soon learn that moving off the blanket is terrifying and remain within its safe borders. They obey the spoon and god.
No, I don't see Jim Bob choosing a date night over his sons wrestling match. Then again, Kody lets his kids go to public high schools where they gain access to sports programs and language classes. Jim Bob and Michelle would NEVER allow that.
"Just don't choose to bring too much life into the world, I guess is what they really mean. "
ReplyDeleteWith the world population moving to 7 billion soon, there are not the resources or jobs available to maintain us all. Surely you see the logic in the ethical stance that producing so many children is a bad thing. You may not agree with it personally, but it's not illogical.
The purpose of The Pill is to create an environment that prevents fertilization. Most pills manage this by mimicking pregnancy hormones. In all but a tiny percentage of cases, there isn't a fertilized egg to be implanted in the uterine wall to begin with, while on the pill or pregnant.
In almost every case where a woman got pregnant on the pill, she has forgotten a dose or staggered her dose or changed her prescription. The Pill is not then responsible for the "miscarriage" of her questionably fertilized egg (who knows, we don't autopsy tiny eggs yet and unfertilized eggs have been known to implant for a short time.)
I was on the pill for five years. Any pharmacist will tell you exactly how it works. Yes, the main way it works is to prevent an egg from being released, but it also thins the walls of the uterus. (Which is why a woman's period is lighter on the pill.) If an egg is released (which is possible even if she takes it like clockwork), the egg may be fertilized and may not be able to implant in the wall of the uterus. I have no idea how often this happens but it is possible and it does happen. Michelle probably doesn't know for sure if that's what caused her first miscarriage, but she was on the pill when it happened. Seems like a logical place to put the blame.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the world population being 7 billion, I don't think we are even close to being overpoplated. America's biggest health concerns stem from being overweight. Seems to me, we have plenty to eat with enough left over that we could be sharing with the third world countries. Even with our unemployment numbers in America, I am a stay at home mom through the week and I work on Saturdays while my husband takes care of our kids. I've been offered numerous jobs (without a college degree)and many working mothers have approached me about watching their kids while they work. The jobs are there. Our standards of living are too high to accept the lower-wage jobs. We need the internet, satellite tv, cell phones with all the bells and whistles, so we need the high paying jobs to make it all happen.
Lindsey,
ReplyDeleteI'm torn between wanting the last word and realizing this probably isn't the place to debate the human population explosion. ;)
I'll just say that all I see is misery in a world that produces only humans and products for human consumption with constant wars over resources. The only birds will be factory produced chicken. The only fish, farm-produced tilapia. It will be hell and I wouldn't want to live there.
There is one sure method used traditionally to reduce the human population - war and all the diseases and whole sale slaughter it brings. If that's all that will be allowed in future, get ready.
I'd rather we control our population at the source and enjoy the benefits of this earth and civilization as long as possible. But that's just me.